Being a Pokemon Master
Being a Pokemon Master is the most difficult and maybe even the most important part of Itemfinder. It takes a lot of knowledge and information, along with being able to invent exciting and meaningful stories and characters. The players need a PM that knows a lot of different species of Pokemon and a lot of things about them. There will be some things that you won't have to memorize, like what type has which super-effectivenesses; things like that can be automated in a spreadsheet. What you need to know is just about everything about how a Pokemon might act, where it might be, and even how it works physically and biologically. If you need any help with anything that doesn't relate to Pokemon, have a look at what Paizo has to say. Just don't forget that it's your world, you can do whatever you want, and so will the Pokemon you create. Tips for Choosing Character Species When setting up an environment for your Players to live in, one of the more prominent features will be the other people they meet. Choosing which species live in certain places can be difficult -- it's not like anything in any other world, there are just too many possibilities. A good place to start is trying to determine why the people are there in the first place. Is there a river nearby? Was it originally a farming location? Is it hidden under the trees? Is it on the top of a mountain? These are all good places to start when trying to decide who your Players should meet. Your next step might include looking at a list of where each Pokemon lives by default. This list was started by the Pokemon Company during Generation III in the Pokedex of FireRed and LeafGreen. This list will give you a general idea of where the average Pokemon of each species lives. A modification or completely different home is perfectly reasonable; people move from where they were born all the time. Just remember that most Pokemon have certain environments that they actually can't live in -- for example, a Charmander most likely would not live into a rainforest. While you pick, think about the world in general. A good idea to keep in mind for any world you create isn't likely to have a lot of fully evolved Pokemon. Remember that evolution is based on life experiences: the higher evolutions need higher-levelled life experiences. Some worlds might not even have a certain type of Pokemon in it at all. There are many different ways to make your world unique and enjoyable for your players. Starting a World You don't have to imagine your entire world from the outset, but imagine the important things and the basic rules. Most of our universes don't have humans in them -- these are the kinds of things a Pokemon Master needs to thing about before even thinking about what the world is made of. If you feel bold, check out this section of ideas -- beware: these are not for the faint of heart. Continuing Onward You don't have to tell your Players what the Pokemon is exactly, but you should pick before you start describing. Don't start something before you know what you're doing. Unfortunately, that's what we're trying to do here -- start something before we're finished. So keep coming back, and, by the time we're done, there might be more to see. Category:PM Guide